Towards the end of 2021, book publisher Penguin Random House collaborated with independent branding and marketing agency Posture Media for a year-end campaign dubbed “Find Your Light”, which celebrated how books helped shaped 2021.
Taking inspiration from Amanda Gorman’s Inauguration poem and subsequent book The Hill We Climb, “Find Your Light” acknowledges the challenges and uncertainties of 2021, while casting a hopeful light on the future. The campaign positions itself as a call to action for readers to discover what brings them joy and purpose and celebrates the power of books to shape us as individuals and as a culture, while telling universal stories that create a sense of community.
It centres on a video narrated by Phoebe Robinson, bestselling author and founder of Tiny Reparations Books, and highlights books that went viral, genres that were popular, and readers’ interactions with Penguin Random House’s featured books and authors, revealing what our reading habits can tell us about the collective experience of the year that was 2021.
The visual language of the campaign is rich and colourful. Each genre is represented by a gradated background and accompanies specially commissioned illustrations by illustrator and graphic designer Lynn Baik who utilises her playful style and masterful knowledge of colour. These are combined with kinetic typography to highlight readership statistics and trends alongside author imagery and user generated content.
To go Behind the Idea, we caught up with Kim Mai Tran, Creative Director at Posture Media.
What was the brief?
The brief for Penguin Random House was to create an end-of-year holiday campaign that would highlight not only their influence as being the world’s #1 book publisher, but their incredible authors’ work as cultural shapers of today.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
It was great, they were very much on board with combining research, data and original content made by creators across social platforms.
What was the process behind ideating the concept?
Initially, we were trying to utilise data and digital artefacts from the year in a new and refreshing way – in a way that would bring warmth to the audience. During this time we found a line from Amanda Gorman’s poem recited at the inauguration:
“When day comes we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade?”
That one line cemented the concept for us. In terms of visuals, we tend to fantasise a lot during brainstorming sessions, so obviously a strange idea popped up ‘What would a Penguin Random House library look like if it existed in all dimensions?’
We went through many architectural references, but end of day thought an abstracted version without background structures made sense. We spent time researching how colours trigger emotional responses in people and how it affected populations throughout history… that and gradients, haha.
What was the production process like?
We worked intensively with PRH’s marketing and research teams to dig for information that would inform us of reading patterns in 2021 and then cross-analysed that with what young people were creating on social.
What was the biggest challenge during production? How did you overcome it?
I would say time, but that’s a common challenge today. We just pushed our mental and physical capacities with this one to be honest.
What kit/tools/software were used to create the project?
At Posture we collaborate internally with Milanote, Figma, and the Adobe suite.
What’s the main message of this project and why does it matter?
Hope and a collective exploration about how different people found joy through reading in 2021. Throughout the project, we understood it’s been a difficult two years for everyone collectively… we wanted to put something out in the world that would provide light and comfort in these times. We wanted to amplify the voices that inspired us, from all backgrounds.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
A refreshing and playful way to engage with their audience, particularly younger readers.
Credit list for the work?
Agency: Posture Media
Executive Creative Direction: Winter Mendelson and Asher Torres
Creative Director: Kim Tran
Narrator: Phoebe Robinson
Illustrator: Lynn Baik
Score: Lauren Flax
Production Assistants: Andrea Granera and Anissa Amalia
